World briefing

The Associated Press

Plague outbreak kills dozens

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Authorities in Madagascar are struggling to contain an outbreak of plague that has killed two-dozen people since last month.

The dead included a basketball coach from the Seychelles who was participating in a tournament in Madagascar’s capital, Antananarivo.

The government banned concerts and other large public gatherings in the capital and began a campaign to disinfect school classrooms in the city, compelling students to stay at home in the coming days. Many people have bought surgical masks and other supplies at pharmacies, raising concerns about a shortage of medicine.

The World Health Organization says at least 114 people have been infected and that, unlike past plague outbreaks in Madagascar, the current one is affecting large urban areas. WHO says it is sending more staff and supplies, including antibiotics, to Madagascar.

Greek journalists on strike

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greek journalists have walked off the job for 24 hours to protest underfunding of their social security fund, which came as a result of austerity measures demanded by Greece’s bailout creditors.

The journalists’ strike pulled all radio and television news broadcasts off the air from 6 a.m. today until 6 a.m. Wednesday. News websites were not updating their content, while no Wednesday newspapers would be printed.

The country’s main journalist union, ESIEA, called on the government to pass legislation ensuring their social security fund would be able to meet the health care and pension requirements of journalists in the country.

Greece has been mired in a financial crisis since 2010 and has been dependent on billions of euros from three international bailouts since then.

4 killed in attack on camp

SRINAGAR, India (AP) — A group of rebels fighting Indian rule stormed a paramilitary camp near the airport in disputed Kashmir early today, in a brazen attack targeting one of the region’s most strategic and well-guarded zones that left at least four dead.

Police said the militants breached multiple layers of high security outside and inside the camp while exchanging intense gunfire with government forces for nearly nine hours.

At least three suspected militants and one border guard officer were killed, police Inspector-General Muneer Ahmed Khan told reporters in Srinagar, the region’s main city. At least three soldiers were injured, police said.